Instrument for opening boxes



.PATENTED APR; 13, 1852."

G. 0. TAFT. INSTRUMENT FOR OPENING BOXES.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

GEO. O. TAFT, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

INSTRUMENT FOR OPENING BOXES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,878, dated April 13, 1852;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. TAFT, of the city and county of WVorcester, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented. a new and useful Double-Lever Box-Opener; and I do hereby declare that the same is described and represented in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

The nature of my invention consists in making two levers and connecting them with a joint and sharpening the short ends of both (or making one a'little longer than the other, sharpening it and making a recess a short distance from the end to receive the thin end of the other lever) and making a tapering score in each but smaller in the one coming next to the lid in use, so that when the two ends are forced in between the lid and side of a box, in such a manner that the nail fastening the lid may be received into the score, and the long ends of the levers are brought toward each other or forced apart (according as the construction of the joint that connects them may require) the short ends, that have been inserted between the side and lid of the box, are separated the nail being drawn from the side by being caught in the narrow score; that the lid is saved from the injury of having the head of the nail drawn through it and the box is opened with the least possible injury to the side and lid, leaving both in most cases fit forfurther use while the rais ing of the lid is effected with far less labor than heretofore.

It is the practice of porters, employed by merchants, to drive a chisel between the-lid and side of the box and pry across the edge of the side to raise the lid and by so doing they frequently split the lids and damage the sides so as to render the boxes unfit for further use; then, when the goods are sold, new boxes are required to ship them in. But if my improved box'opener. be used and a little care taken to save the lids, the same boxes will serve to send the goods away in and thus the cost of new boxes for that purpose will be saved.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I make a lever A of the form represented in the drawing with one end thin and sharp enough to enter between the lid and the side of the box with facility and make two projections B, B upon this lever between which I insert the hinge E, of the lever C which is made in the form represented and put a pin D through the projections B, B and the hinge E so as to form a working joint. The thin end F of the lever C fits into the recess H in the thin end of the lever A so that when the two ends are brought together they may be inserted between theside and lid of a box in such a manner that the tapering score I which is made smaller in the upper jaw may embrace and grip the nail and draw it from the side with the greatest facility and prevent its head from being drawn through the lid by its sticking in the side the ends of both the levers being so formed 'as to eifect an entrance with very little re sistance. If it is preferred the two thin ends of the levers may be made of the same length and sharpened so as to enter the joint between the lid and side of the box, but if one is made longer than the other and as thick at the end as the two just described, it would be less likely to break than if it was made in two thicknesses.

The invention might be made in a different form and still answer the same purpose: for instance the bar A might be made wider where the projections B, B join it and the projections dispensed with, and a hole made so as to put the other lever through, it be ing bent the other way and shaped so that a pin could be put through both levers to form the fulcrum; the long end of the lever put through might be bent so as to be nearly parallel to the other at a convenient distance so that the hands would not interfere when the two levers are seized to pull them apart to raise the lid of a box.

To use the instrument above described the sharpened end of the lever A should be placed at the joint between the side of a box and its lid, (care being taken to place it so that the points K and L will pass each side of a nail), and a few light blows upon the opposite end of the lever will force it into the joint taking care at the same time to keep the thin end of the lever O in contact with the lever A: when the thin ends of the levers have been forced in a proper distance the end of the lever A should be I it acts upon the lid and the lower jaw acts against the side of the box each side of the nail at the same time. This will also be found to be a very efficient instrument to draw nails when they stick out so that the lever C can be made to act upon them. The score I may be made narrower on the upper or under side of the jaw F as may be pre ferred.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the above de scribed instrument for opening boxes is 1. The tapering score I cut in both jaws but smaller in the upper one or F, so con-' structed that when both jaws are driven in between the side and lid of a box, the points of the jaws pass on each side of a nail which will be gripped in the score I; so that as the jaw F is raised to take up the lid it will draw the nail out of the side and thus prevent the head of the nail from being drawn through the lid as it rises, while the jaw G rests upon the side of the box, substantially as described.

'2. Is the tapering score I in combination with the peculiar construction and arrangement of the jaws F and G, the latter being furnished with a recess at H into which the former closes in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name before two subscribing witnesses.

GEO. C. TAFT.

Witnesses:

WM. GREENLEAF,

WM. W. PATCH. 

